Overweight Pregnancy

I too am obese and think while yes, it's best to lose weight prior to getting pregnant, it's far more important to get healthy. If you start too rigorous of an exercise program, you can actually make it harder to conceive. You should work on prepping your body for pregnancy with good eating habits, moderate exercise/activities, no drinking/smoking, and start taking prenatal vitamins now. You (and your husband) should prep your bodies for 3 months and then start "trying" the 4th month. It takes 90 days for your body to renew itself, and you should be healthy and ready to go by the 4th cycle. :-) I highly recommend the books "Taking Charge of Your Fertility" and "Natural Fertility". They both have great information on how to prep your body for conceiving.

The main thing is that if you do get pregnant while being obese, you absolutely don't want to gain much (if any) weight while pregnant. I (luckily) only was 9 pounds up from my starting weight at full-term and the most I ever gained was 11 pounds. By the time I had my 6-week check-up, I had lost 22 pounds, 13 less than before I was pregnant. So, I had actually lost fat weight while pregnant. Unfortunately, I gained the weight back once out little girl self-weaned at 9 1/2 months.

Little things make a BIG difference. My husband and I started making small changes last winter (first, no eating/drinking any calories after a certain time in the evenings, next month - no soda in the house, finally - no fast food). By the time the third month of changes came, we really started losing weight. My husband has lost about 40 pounds (maybe more now) because he started really working out this summer. I've lost about 18 pounds and already feel much better. My point is, start with your health and the weight will follow. Even a few pounds makes a difference, so hopefully you'll lose some weight by improving your health. :-D

Good luck! I'll be rooting for you. :-)

K.,

I was 100 lbs overweight when I got pregnant with my first at the age of 35 yrs old. If that is not a recipe for people thinking that it was high risk! I found out that I had to watch my diet while pregnant because I ended up with gestational diabetes. I actually lost about 25 lbs while pregnant. I was a bit worried about that at first, but my doctor said it was fine because I was healthy and the baby was healthy and I had lots of extra to begin with.

There are a lot of people out there that are much more overweight that 100 lbs and have really healthy pregnancies and babies. If you doctor is not telling you that you need to lose the weight before getting pregnant due to some health difficulty, go for it. Losing weight is a good idea, I am still working on it after my second child, but if you wait for that, you may not have another child.

God bless you and I suggest you have another child now if you feel it is the right time.

K.,

I was pregnant and overweight with my second. My doc told me that instead of gaining the 20 lbs max like I would have if I was not overweight, I should aim for around 5-10 lbs. She was not that concerned about me being overweight, and was supportive of me and not judgmental at all of how I started.

I just looked at your "a little about me". It would probably be good to try and lose some before you get pregnant, it's harder to lose the weight if you have it to begin with. I was about 50 pounds overweight when I got pregnant with #2, and now I'm 70 pound overweight. It just doesn't come off that easy for me when all **I** do is sit on the couch. =)

Anyway, bad joke aside, if you want to get pregnant and have another baby do it.

Melissa

I started Weight Watchers before I got pregnant and was down like 15-20 before I got pregnant. But honestly, to each their own. It was a recommendation from my doctor that I lose the weight before I tried to get pregnant, and I did try. Now I'm heavier than I was when I first started losing weight, so back to the beginning for me.

K. -
While I can't give advice from experience I will say that you should concentrate on being healthy. Create a healthy lifestyle for your family to live each day. Weight is a visual issue, and a symptom of your health. You want the best for your baby? Get healthy! Your weight will take care of itself.

Eat real food (from a plant or animal), not man-made food. Each day try to get fresh air, relax, laugh, get a little exercise, and read up on how you can best prepare your body for growing another little human inside it.

Blessings on adding to your family!

I was average weight when I got pregnant with my first and lost the weight easily.

I was never overweight officially until after my second child. I never was able to loose the weight because I really didn't put much effort into it.

I got pregnant with my 3rd and I have found it VERY hard to loose the weight now. I would recommend loosing weight before getting pregnant, not only to reduce your risk of diabetes, but also to make it easier after the pregnancy.